Shane from Livid Kids sent over a link to his new band the other day. They call themselves Dyke Cop, and they sound about as obnoxious as you'd expect of a band with that kind of name. Frantic and lo-fi, Shane called it "rad surf punk" and he's not far wrong. Though anyone not accustomed to listening to songs that sound like they were recorded on a phone will find it pretty impossible to bear, the rest of us losers who prefer our music rough and ready and unpalatable for most of our friends - this is ace. They have an upcoming tape through Mind Fortress Records, but you can get a sneak preview below.
Milestones is a feature looking to gain an insight into the tastes of a particular character or bunch of people of the music 'industry'. We ask them a few questions and they kindly answer.
Tye Die Tapes are a cassette only label based near Sheffield run by two friends, and are pretty much the go-to people if you want to find a new band in the north-east of England. Putting out releases by Sealings, Bhurgeist, and Cold Hands among others - as well as putting on some excellent gigs - they do what they do for all of the right reasons and are much-deserving of some more love and attention. Check out James' and Adam's responses to the generic Milestones questions below.
The album that first got you into music:
James: I dunno really, it was probably Nimrod I think I still know all the lyrics to that album.
Green Day - Prosthetic Head
Adam: It was Offspring but not one of the good ones. Conspiracy of One. I seem to have missed all the good albums by bands by one all throughout my life.
The Offspring - Want You Bad
The band that dominated your teenage years:
James: Green Day! I had all their albums on either cassette or CD, I lost interest after'Warning but I still enjoy Dookie and Nimrod.
Green Day - When I Come Around
Adam: I really couldn't pick one. Most of it was pretty bad thrash and death metal. At the Gates blew my mind when I first heard them and I still listen to Slaughter of the Soul sometimes and enjoy it. I used to be really into their earlier stuff too. I also dug some pretty crap stuff. In Flames were pretty good, their early stuff was great. Korn until I was like 15. This really isn't cool, is it?
At The Gates - Blinded By Fear
The album in your parents' collection that made a lasting impression:
James: My dad had a really 'dad' taste in music, you know Queen, AC/DC, and Thin Lizzy. I remember thumbing through his record collection and be fascinated with the AC/DC album that has Angus Young getting impaled by his SG, but I never really listened to it, because I was like 5 or 6 and didn't get records. But for an album that made a lasting impression I'd have to say it was my mother's Simple Minds greatest hits album Glittering Prize 81/92. I fell in love with the colours on the art work and I'd sit next to the Hi-Fi with my Dad's big headphones on listening to it on repeat.
Simple Minds - Don't You (Forget About Me)
Adam: I used to think the front cover to Sgt. Peppers was pretty cool. Never liked the music though. My mum has a lot of New Romantic stuff that is good. There's a Bill Withers greatest hits in there too which has a bunch of tracks off the first album and it's got Use Me pretty early on there, that's a good CD and Bill Withers is the man. I have to pick just one don't I? Bill Withers then.
Bill Withers - Use Me
The album that has dominated your last 12 month's listening:
Adam: Formlessness by The World is a Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid to Die. Only four tracks but they're brilliant. Their record label (wish I could remember the name!) gave it out for free with a bunch of not-so-good stuff and I grabbed it on a whim. Before I got a job the 'first thing I'll buy when I get a job' was their second EP but I've still not got around to getting it. I kind of don't want to because it might ruin the magic of that first record. Whoever recorded Formlessness knows how to give a band room to breathe and it's a work of art.
The World Is a Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid To Die - Gordon Paul
James: URGH! So many! But if I'm brutally honest it's either the new Mazes record or Broken Dreams Club by Girls. I'll go with the Mazes record because it is perfect, I'm such a Mazes fan boy, they are real gents, and Jack writes some of the best pop songs i've ever heard, my personal favourite is 'Boxing Clever'.
Mazes - Boxing Clever
The most exciting new band you've heard recently:
James: Hookworms. Without a doubt, they are easily one of the best bands I've seen and heard this year. They are so passionate about what they do, Matt J the singer runs Suburban Home, and when you spend a prolonged period of time with him, as we did when he recorded our band. The first thing you realise is how quietly proud he is of the band, and so he should be there record is phenomenal and there live show is intense. BUY EVERYTHING THEY RELEASE.
Adam: There are too many, that's why we do this. Twisted are one of my favourites but they've split up already. There are a bunch in Sheffield like Best Friends and Drenge who are ace. Kristen Ward who is Shiny Penny has started a new one called mmhmm or something like that and anything she does is great. Sealings are ace and will no doubt get picked up by some biggish label sometime soon.
Sealings - My Boyfriend's Dead
And the one song that best represents what it is that you do:
Adam: That's difficult, I guess some of the songs I've heard 50+ times when dubbing tapes before I got a tape deck that could do it at 2x speed. I think Rusty Arms by Ethiopians is my favourite track out of what we've put out so far. I actually know the lyrics to that one too. Ethiopians are now Captain Cult Leader and are still rad. I would say a Sealings track because I love them but I have no idea what the lyrics are; they slam everything so hard on their recordings that it's just like an excellent wall of noise. Sometimes you can make stuff out but I usually have no idea what's going on.
James: Oh I've no idea. But I've been listening to Portastatic all day and fist pumping to his song 'Polaroid' so I'll choose that, because it's real nice and I hope we do real nice stuff.
Portastic - Polaroid
Find out more about Tye Die Tapes on their Tumblr, stream some stuff on their SoundCloud, or give them money in exchange for tapes at their online shop.
Myself and Nathan Horror Show Tunes have decided that Kingston-upon-Thames could do with some more gigs, and we've taken the responsibility on ourselves - under the name Zeitgiest (feel free to go 'like' us on Facebook to be kept up to date with future shows).
Our first show will take place in Kingston, at The Cricketer's pub, with Woman's Hour and Yoofs on Wednesday November 16.
Of Woman's Hour, Nathan said: "the bordering-on-tropical melodies and subtly arresting vocals can only inspire one thing, total adoration." while of Yoofs I've previously spouted: "Ramshackle, fun, catchy, scruffy pop songs - if there's any justice in the world these will 'go somewhere'".
And if you don't believe us, listen for yourselves below.
What we know of Athletes is minimal. Through bandcamp and SoundCloud pages all we really know is that they're from Denmark. We don't even know if it is a "they", a "he" or a "she". But you don't need facts to fall in love with them - you just need to listen to 'Raincoats'. A song that manages to blend melodic The Cure-like guitar riffs with My Bloody Valentine-style whirring synth sounds, topped off with hushed, gruff male vocals to absolutely glorious, dream-like effect. Stunning.
Out today via the consistently excellent Italian Beach Babes is the Mazes / Eagulls split. 4 tracks split between two of the UK's finest, it's exciting and it's fun. Stream below or order now.
Any regular reader of this blog will already know of my love for Scottish lo-fi grungey/garagey rock two-piece Dolfinz. They've already been the feature of two blog posts and any reason to shout about them some more is likely to be taken up - and the news of their debut 7" seems the perfect excuse. Featuring two new tracks - 'Teenage Doom' and 'Nosebleed' - it'll be out on Aberdeen's Tuff Wax Records on November 21. They'll also be touring the UK late November, so keep your eyes peeled for details.
The band have also decided to let me give away a slightly older, but as-of-yet unheard, track in 'Whatever, Forever'. In typical Dolfinz fashion, it's scruffy and melodic and ace. Listen and download below.
To celebrate the launch of their Android app, 8tracks invited a bunch of bloggers to make a mix - and Basement Fever was one of them. Take a listen to my attempt - featuring some of my favourite new music - below.
Californian four-piece Mrs Magician return (having been previously featured back in February) with a new 7" single, out through Grizzly Records on November 11. Continuing with their juxtaposition of noisy distorted sounds with catchy surf-ish pop melodies, it's really good stuff - and bodes well for their debut album, expected in 2012 through Swami Records.
'Guard It Like A Fortress' is the latest dreamy and transfixing lo-fi ditty from London twin-brothers Youthfall, following on from 'Secular Child' (which we heard a few weeks back). Panda Bear-ish echoing guitar sits above synth, whilst minimalist percussion sounds click gently along to the distorted vocals - coming together seamlessly and beautifully.
Coming from Philadelphia, and currently on tour with Asobi Seksu, White Birds write pop songs. Wonderful, wonderful pop songs. Pop songs built on harmonies and guitar distortion, influenced by The Beach Boys, and Fleet Foxes. And as easy as it'd be for this kind of combination to be predictable, dull, and paint-by-numbers - it's not. It's beautiful, it's charming, it's delightful - and they have a cassette out now on Grizzly Records. Limited to 100 copies, odds are it's already sold out given how ruddy ace they sound.
The Machine Room shouldn't be good. They make music that could quite comfortably be labelled funk or disco, but we live in a world where things make no sense and, although your head says no, most other parts of your body will certainly be saying yes. While the Edinburgh group certainly straddle a very fine line - one where their next song could very easily cross it, quickly turning them into Nick Grimshaw-backed tripe - for now they sit on the right side of it; this is good, clean fun.
The wonderful thing about writing about bands 'these days' is that you can do a good job of exploring a city's scene at the click of a mouse. A few days ago BF featured Saint Yorda, a three-piece from Cork making some pretty interesting sounds, and through their SoundCloud appeared Altered Hours. Also from Cork, though with slightly less information about them knocking around on the internet, Altered Hours are apparently a five-piece - putting together a bunch of excellently woozy, lo-fi psychedelic sounds.
It wasn't long ago that Yoofs first featured on BF, but the Bournemouth band don't hang around. As well giving away brand new track 'John Actor Is Monkfish' today, the band are also announcing a cassette 'mixtape' to be released on Art Is Hard in November. Bristol people can also see them live supporting Real Estate at Start the Bus, October 26. Fun.
A three-piece from Toronto, Stacey Adams are everything you'd hope that a band with an EP entitled 'Soft Grunge' would be. The four-track release - available on bandcamp for free download - has a distinctively lazy, laid-back to it; its lo-fi jams (think along Mazes, Yuck, and even Modest Mouse lines) grooving coolly along as if the band don't really care if you listen to it or not. Might as well though?
Dropped today via the consistently excellent Cascine is the first single of London boy-girl duo Pandr Eyez. Entitled Eyes On You, it's a captivating and fascinating piece of work - interweaving dark synth sounds with some eery electronics and hypnotic dubstep-ish bass, topped off with vocals that'd sit pretty comfortably (by no means in no derogatory way) on daytime Radio 1. It feels like biting into a crisp apple, taking a sip from a cold can of Coke, stepping off the train late at night into a dark and deserted platform. Watch out for a full EP, also out through Cascine, October 25.
On listen to Sheffield's Blood Sport, it's difficult to decide whether I really like them or really don't. Whilst their recordings are a bit scrappy (expect instruments to not always be in-time with each other), their sound is inventive, experimental and daring. The band are probably fully aware that a large proportion of the general public will never be interested in listening to their somewhat obnoxious-sounding songs, yet they go ahead and continue making the music that they want to make regardless.
Their sound is a difficult one to pin down, with the three-piece not easily fitting into any specific conceived genres, nor do they have many obvious musical comparisons (though there are definite hints of the care-free attitude of The Fall, whilst also having a 'math'-ish techy Battles-like sound, and reminding me too of Volcano!) - which is always a good thing. What's for sure is that it's noisy, ambitious and anti-social - yet works (perhaps surprisingly) well, for the most part at least. Download a digital copy of the cassette from bandcamp, or order a physical copy from The Audacious Art Experiment.
Saint Yorda are an interesting prospect. With songs that range from the dark and atmospheric (some might even stick the tag 'goth' on it, in the Zola Jesus kind of sense of the word, at least) noises of 'Death Ray', to the pensive, almost Richard Hawley-with-a-synth sound of 'Yr Bones', to the guitar-meets-electro slow-pop of Sakawa Bones, to the surf-influenced sound of (ahem...) Surf Song', the three-piece from Cork are taking on a lot - and pulling it off. So they might go a bit overboard with the cow-bell at times, and not all tracks are without their flaws, but these lot are pretty impressive. I'd definitely be interested to take a peek into their record collection.
Sitting alongside Dolfinz, Joanna Gruesome, and Bos Angeles both in their scrappy lo-fi sound (and that they are one of my favourite new UK bands at the moment) are YRRS from New Milton and Christchurch (near Southampton and Bournemouth on the south coast of England). Following on from early excellent SoundCloud tracks, the two-piece have stuck a three-track EP onto bandcamp available for free download. If there was ever a time to use the word 'rad' it'd be now.
Something perhaps neglected on BF - an area of my tastes not so well represented here - is electronic music, and an artist that has certainly been impressing for a good while now is Khalid Rafique under the moniker Shells. Putting together that kind of woozy, subtle, and delicately structured electronica that we hear a lot of but that few do quite so well, Arctic and Spiders are two new tracks that the London producer has dropped today.
Despite the fact it was only 6 weeks ago that we last posted about Crushed Beaks, the duo from London have already come a long way since then. What started out as some scrappily bedroom-recorded (but still thoroughly excellent) demos have turned into a single release proper - with tracks Close-Ups and Sun Dogs to go out through Too Pure Records, November 21. The latter - distant yet punchy, melodic and catchy lo-fi beauty - is streamable below. London people can also see them at the Old Blue last on October 5, or at the same place on November 11 for the official single launch.
Dropped today via the consistently excellent Cascine is the first single of London boy-girl duo Pandr Eyez. Entitled Eyes On You, it's a captivating and fascinating piece of work - interweaving dark synth sounds with some eery electronics and hypnotic dubstep-ish bass, topped off with vocals that'd sit pretty comfortably (by no means in no derogatory way) on daytime Radio 1. It feels like biting into a crisp apple, taking a sip from a cold can of Coke, stepping off the train late at night into a dark and deserted platform. Watch out for a full EP, also out through Cascine, October 25.
